In addition to the Vitalizer core circuit, the Tube Vitalizer has a high frequency and harmonics processing stage with Frequency and Intensity controls and switchable coil filter (LC) as well as compressor.
The switchable tube stage is constructed with three tubes: first, left and right pass through their channel output tube, then the channels pass jointly through the third tube as a stereo signal.
As a little treat, the Tube Vitalizer offers a shunt limiter. This limits the level according to a characteristic curve tuned to the tubes and provides the signal with a sonic effect similar to the saturation effect of analog tape machines.
The De-Masking
A key feature of the Vitalizer is the unmasking of superimposed sound components. The Vitalizer thereby relates the time of perception of a frequency to its amplitude. Through a minimal temporal offset of loud frequencies, quieter, previously superimposed sound components are “de-masked” and thus become audible.
The Adaptation to Curves of Equal Loudness
The non-linear sensitivity of the human hearing is described already in the 1930s by the “Fletcher-Munson curves”.
These “curves of equal loudness” (today defined by the standard ISO 226:2003) illustrate the equal perception of loudness as a measure of sound pressure level, over the frequency spectrum, for which a listener perceives a constant loudness when presented with pure steady tones.
The Vitalizer adapts the frequency spectrum to the curves of equal loudness, which improves the loudness perception in particular.
Inputs & Outputs
The two channels of the Tube Vitalizer are equipped with Neutrik XLR sockets and jack sockets connected in parallel.
The signal transmission is electronically balanced with a nominal level of +6 dB.
